Early Astronomy (NatSci)

Early Astronomy

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, and astrological practices of pre-history: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with public and governmental astronomy, and not completely disentangled from it until a few centuries ago in the Western World (see astrology and astronomy). In some cultures astronomical data was used for astrological prognostication.

Ancient astronomers were able to differentiate between stars and planets, as stars remain relatively fixed over the centuries while planets will move an appreciable amount during a comparatively short time.

Early cultures identified celestial objects with gods and spirits.[1] They related these objects (and their movements) to phenomena such as rain, drought, seasons, and tides. It is generally believed that the first "professional" astronomers were priests, and that their understanding of the "heavens" was seen as "divine", hence astronomy's ancient connection to what is now called astrology. Ancient structures with possibly astronomical alignments (such as Stonehenge) probably fulfilled both astronomical and religious functions.

Calendars of the world have usually been set by the Sun and Moon (measuring the day, month and year), and were of importance to agricultural societies, in which the harvest depended on planting at the correct time of year. The most common modern calendar is based on the Roman calendar, which divided the year into twelve months of alternating thirty and thirty-one days apiece. In 46 BC Julius Caesar instigated calendar reform and adopted a calendar based upon the 365¼ day year length originally proposed by 4th century BC Greek astronomer Callippus.

Ancient astronomers had only their eyes with which to view the sky, but they had a very practical reason for studying the skies. Thousands of years ago, changes in the heavens were the only available clocks and calendars. The stars could also be used for navigation. See also Archaeoastronomy.

1200-1000 BC- Babylonians study 'astrology' - the belief that people's lives were influenced by the stars. They invented the 12 signs that are still used today. Around the same time, the Greeks name most of the stars and the constellations (Hercules, Perseus, Cassiopea and Cygnus). They also name the "the wandering stars." We now know these wandering stars as planets. The Greeks named these after their gods, Mercury, Venus, Mars & Jupiter.

332 BC- Alexander the Great builds a great museum-library-observatory at the mouth of the Nile in Alexandra.

280 BC- Aristarchus (Greek) stated that the Sun was the center of the 'solar system'. It was almost 1800 yrs later that his theory would be widely accepted.

240 BC- Eratosthenes figured out the size of the Earth.

Year O - At the time of Christ, Egyptians & Chinese were also heavily into the study of the stars.

120 AD- Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy (a.d. 90-168) is credited with the creation of the elaborate mechanism by which he (and later astronomers) calculated the movements of the stars and planets and the moon around the earth.

Ptolemy's most important work was completed early in his career, Almagest. Written originally in Greek, this work on astronomy was translated into Arabic in the ninth century, and in 1410 it was translated into Latin. While never completely unknown, its reappearance during the Renaissance buttressed Catholic doctrine on the centrality of human creation.

1054- Oriental astronomers recorded a breif flaring star, now known as a supernova.

1200 AD- the mariner's compass with a magnetic needle comes into use.

1510 AD - Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer & mathemetician posumously publishs his theories that opposes common Christian beliefs of the time. The book stated that the sun was the center of our solar system. His book was banned by the Roman Catholic Church until 1835.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) The Italian physicist and astronomer first used a telescope from lenses he made himself, at the beginning of the 17th Century. The telescope was 30X. In 1609, he made a drawing of the moon for the world to see. Again, he stated that the Sun was the center of the universe, for this he was persecuted for going against the Church. The Inquisition forced him to repeal his discoveries in order avoid torture. He also discovered sun spots and Jupiter's 4 satellites.

1618- Johannes Kepler stated that the Earth moved around the Sun in an ellipse ( a squashed circle.) Isaac Newton (1643-1727) at the University of Cambridge, developed the laws of gravity. He coined the now famous term "and to every action there is always an equal and opposite or contrary, reaction." Newton also determined the moon's effect on the tides. He also discovered that the prism seperated light's component colours, which added to the study of stars through spectral analysis.  

1905- Albert Einstein published his Theory of Relativity. This led to the famous E=MC squared (energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared). This formula helped us understand the atom and the fact that gravity can bend light.

1924- Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) discovered that our Milky Way was not the center of the universe, but rather only one galaxy in among billions. He calulates the distance to the Andromeda and Triangulum 'nebulas'. He also measures the redshift of the spectra of the galaxies and states that the universe is expanding.

1967- A Pulsar (a form of radiation) is discovered at Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory at University of Cambridge.